Ajax director of football Marc Overmars reveals talks with Barcelona over loan partnership… but refuses to confirm whether Spanish giants will get first refusal on Matthijs de Ligt Marc Overmars said Ajax were looking at a collaboration with Barcelona Deal would see young players move from Spain to gain experience in Holland Overmars did not comment on whether this would effect Matthijs De Ligt Dutch centre back De Ligt is wanted by several clubs including Barcelona By Matthew Smith For Mail Online Published: 14:47 BST, 1 April 2019 | Updated: 15:10 BST, 1 April 2019 1 Viewcomments Marc Overmars has confirmed Ajax are in talks with Barcelona over a partnership which could see players loaned between the two clubs. Former Arsenal player Overmars, now director of football with the Dutch club, said the Eredivisie side were looking at a collaboration which would see young players from the Catalan giants move to gain first team experience. Ajax and Barcelona have been closely linked in recent years - the likes of Bojan Krkic have gone on loan to Holland from Spain, while Jesper Cillesen and Frenkie De Jong have moved the other way. Marc Overmars has confirmed Ajax are in talks with Barcelona over a loan partnership According to Dutch football website Voetbalzone, Overmars refused to comment on whether this would see Barca get first refusal on in-demand centre back Matthijs De Ligt. Dutch international De Ligt has been linked with several leading European clubs, with Barca said to want the 19-year-old as Gerard Pique's long term successor. Overmars said: 'We know that we are on good terms with Barcelona. They want to talk to us, to see if they can loan us players. Overmars refused to say whether this would see Barca get first refusal for Matthijs De Ligt 'However there is always just one thing to do: we aren't, of course, going to get too many players from Barcelona. We're not a branch of that club, but the plans haven't been developed that far.' Other Dutch clubs have similar links with major European sides - Chelsea used to loan reserve and developing player to PSV, and more recently Vitesse Arnhem. However a deal between Ajax and Barcelona would have a different dynamic as both clubs are established European forces - they are both Champions League finalists this season. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility